PROVIDENCE, RI – Goaltender Justin Peters stopped all 47 shots he faced in regulation and overtime and rookie Harrison Reed netted the shootout-winning goal as the Albany River Rats shutout the Providence Bruins 1-0 Friday night at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center.

 

The game’s starting goaltenders, Justin Peters for Albany and Tuukka Rask for Providence, dominated the first forty minutes as they foiled everything the shooters could come up with. Both goalies made excellent saves in the first period against the opposition’s power plays; Peters making a fantastic glove save on Mikko Lehtonen and Rask robbing Jakub Petruzalek’s one-timer at the far post.

 

The story remained the same in the second period as neither team could solve the puzzle of the netminders. After two periods, each team had three power play chances, but still could not find a way to put the puck in the net.

 

In the third period, the trend did not change and, despite several last ditch efforts, the game would go into overtime. The goalies continued their stellar form in the extra session, keeping the puck out of the nets and forcing a shootout.

 

In the shootout Martin St. Pierre scored on the first attempt to put Providence ahead 1-0, the first puck to find the net in over 65 minutes of action. The next four shooters for each team were denied by the goaltenders, leaving just one chance for Albany to stay alive. The River Rats fifth round shooter came up big, although controversially, as Jakub Petruzalek appeared to lose control of the puck and then reach back and bury a shot over the fallen Rask. The Providence fans and bench erupted in protest, but referee Frederic L’Ecuyer awarded the goal and sent the shootout to sudden death. Peters denied St. Pierre’s second shootout attempt and rookie Harrison Reed fired his second attempt over the glove of Rask and into the top corner of the net to win the game for Albany.

 

Goaltender Justin Peters put on a masterful performance as he made 47 saves and stopped five-of-six shootout attempts for his third shutout of the year. Peters was named the game’s first star, as he lifted Albany’s record to 30-31-3-3 on the season. Tuukka Rask made 29 saves in regulation and overtime for his fourth shutout of the year, but was tagged with the shootout loss as he allowed two goals on six attempts and the Bruins fell to 38-24-2-5. Providence out-shot the River Rats 47-30 in the game and went 0-for-4 on the power play; the Rats were 0-for-5 with the man-advantage.

 

Notes: Prior to Friday’s game, the River Rats called up defenseman Dominic D’Amour from the Florida Everblades of the ECHL and signed him to a professional tryout contract. D’Amour was drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 3^rd round (88^th overall) in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft and has appeared in over 100 AHL games, mostly with the Maple Leaf’s AHL affiliate (St. John’s and the Marlies). His River Rats debut against Providence was his 109^th career AHL game.

 

Albany is in Syracuse on Saturday, March 21^st for a 7:30 pm face off against the Crunch at the Onondaga County War Memorial at Oncenter; the game is their eighth and final meeting of the season with Syracuse. The River Rats next home game is on Sunday, March 22^nd at 5:00 pm against the Philadelphia Phantoms.

 

River Rats flex ticket packages and individual game tickets are on sale now at the River Rats office and the Times Union Center Box Office. For more information please contact the Albany River Rats at (518) 487-2244 or online at www.albanyriverrats.com.